1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an assembly structured to clean the head portion of a stethoscope comprising a housing including a path of travel along which the head portion passes during cleaning. A supply of cleaning fluid is associated with a dispenser assembly which is cooperatively disposed relative to an activating assembly. The activating assembly is operatively positioned to activate the dispenser assembly when engaged by the head portion as it passes along the path of travel. The dispenser assembly delivers the cleaning fluid to an applicator assembly or at least to an area communicating with the applicator assembly, which distributes the cleaning fluid to the head portion and facilitates the cleaning thereof and removal of excess cleaning fluid there from.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well recognized in the medical profession and commonly acknowledged by many individuals not directly associated with the medical care industry, the use of a stethoscope by health care providers is routine. As typically applied, the head and/or diaphragm portion of the stethoscope is normally placed in direct contact with the skin of the patient at various locations over the patient's body. In applying the stethoscope in this manner and in particular in situations where the stethoscope head or diaphragm may be exposed to the bodily fluids of the patient, the transmission of infection from patient to patient is a distinct possibility.
While some stethoscopes are structured for disposal after each use, a great number of stethoscope instruments are non-disposable and are intended for continued and repeated use. This latter category of stethoscopes are typically carried by the health care provider on a substantially continuous basis and used repeatedly for examination of multiple patients. In order to avoid the transmission of infection from patient to patient when using this latter category of instruments, attempts have been made to facilitate at least a minimal cleaning and/or disinfecting of the head portion of the stethoscope. However, because of time demands, emergency situations and other situations which frequently occur, a health care provider may only perform a minimal cleaning of the instrument on an occasional basis. Such cursory cleaning procedures may involve a physical wiping of the head and diaphragm portions of the stethoscope with some type of disinfecting or cleaning material wipe. Although, these cursory cleaning procedures may be effective, they are burdensome, time consuming and require the ready availability of these wipes. Furthermore, while available and inexpensive, these wipes have generally not been integrated into routine physician practice.
In order to overcome problems of the type set forth above, attempts have been made to develop various types of cleaning devices and/or systems which are intended to provide a more thorough, effective cleaning of at least the head and/or diaphragm portions of the stethoscope. However, many known or conventional devices, while being at least minimally operative to accomplish their intended purpose, also suffer from numerous disadvantages. Such disadvantages generally relate to accomplishing an effective cleaning, disinfecting or possible sterilization of the instrument and the fact that many of such known cleaning devices are difficult or too time consuming for convenient use.
To better appreciate the requirements necessary to accomplish a proper cleaning and disinfecting of the stethoscope head, it is important to understand the various structural components thereof and their intended use during an examination procedure. More specifically, the stethoscope head typically includes a diaphragm portion comprising a thin disk of appropriate material that is disposed in confronting relation to a patient's skin. As such, the diaphragm forms an acoustical seal with the contacted portion of the patient. In addition, the head portion also includes a ring or rim which retains or is otherwise disposed and structured for supportive engagement with the diaphragm. Finally, the stethoscope head includes a base or spine of the head formed of metal or other composite base material that is structured to serve as the location where the user may grasp the device comfortably, usually with a thumb and one or two fingers of a single hand. A magnification and transmission of the sounds detected during the examination procedure is thereby accomplished. In addition, an appropriate conduit or tubing which may be formed of a rubber or like material is secured to the head and extends outwardly there from so as to interconnect the ear pieces of the stethoscope to the head portion.
Health care associated (nosocomial) infections are a growing concern for hospitals in the United States and worldwide. Approximately, two million patients admitted to U.S. hospitals each year acquire a health care associated infection. Of these, more than seventy thousand will die. These infections add about $30 billion annually to U.S. healthcare cost.
The transfer of pathogenic bacteria from one patient to another is a major cause of healthcare associated infections. This transfer may be facilitated by healthcare workers who do not adequately clean and disinfect their hands and/or patient-care equipment after patient contact.
Stethoscopes harbor pathogenic bacteria. Bacteria may be transferred intact to human skin directly from a stethoscope diaphragm. The stethoscope diaphragm and rim (the portions of the stethoscope that directly contact the patient's skin) may be adequately disinfected and cleaned by one or several wipes with a prepackaged isopropyl alcohol pad or swab. However, the majority of healthcare workers do not clean or disinfect their stethoscope after each patient encounter. Less than half of workers clean their stethoscopes daily or even weekly. Common reasons for not cleaning or disinfecting stethoscopes are that the alcohol pads and swabs are not readily available, are messy, time consuming to use and require disposal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that healthcare workers dedicate the use of non-critical care equipment to a single patient. If this is not possible, then it is recommended that these items be adequately cleaned and disinfected before being used on another patient. These recommendations are specifically for patients that are known or suspected to harbor pathogenic organisms. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that for all patients receiving care in a hospital, an item of patient care equipment must not be reused on another patient until it has been cleaned and reprocessed appropriately. The American Medical Association has also resolved that healthcare providers should frequently clean their stethoscopes to prevent the spread of nosocomial infections.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that allows healthcare providers to rapidly and safely clean and disinfect their stethoscope diaphragm and rim before and after examining a patient. Such a proposed device should be located conveniently in the patient's room or examination area and preferably be wall mounted. Moreover such a proposed cleaning assembly should be preferably structured to facilitate a single, rapid swipe through the proposed device by a stethoscope operator so as to adequately clean and disinfect the stethoscope diaphragm and rim. These are the elements of a stethoscope that come in contact with a patient and are an important potential source of nosocomial infections. Accordingly, a proposed invention should provide a novel, inexpensive, safe, convenient and time efficient solution to the potential stethoscope-to-patient transmission of infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria and fungi.
It will be preferable if a proposed stethoscope cleaning and disinfecting device had the following additional features in order to overcome disadvantages and problems recognized with prior art or conventional cleaning devices. The proposed device should safely enclose the disinfecting agent to prevent spillage and dissuade tampering. After cleaning and disinfecting the stethoscope's diaphragm and rim, the device should remove excess disinfecting agent so as to not leave an excessive amount of this agent on the diaphragm or rim.
Further, any such cleaning device that is located in a patient's room or in an examination area may, over time, have its exterior surface contaminated by pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, it is essential that to prevent further spread of pathogenic bacteria, a proposed device should allow the operator to avoid touching the device with his or her hands during the stethoscope cleaning and disinfecting procedure.
In addition, an effective cleaning assembly, operative in overcoming the problems and disadvantages recognized in the medical profession, cleans or disinfects the head portion of the stethoscope as well as assures that the housing is also properly and effectively disinfected and/or cleaned. More specifically, interior portions and operative components of a proposed cleaning assembly should be effectively cleaned, disinfected, etc. A cleaning fluid used to clean the stethoscope head in such an improved and proposed cleaning assembly may be an alcohol-based solution such as isopropyl or ethyl alcohol in standard concentrations. While such a solution rapidly and effectively kills a large percentage of pathogenic organisms, it may have minimal destructive activity against certain bacteria, especially in their spore form. By way of example, such bacteria include, but are not limited to, Clostridium difficile (C. diff). Accordingly, an improved and proposed cleaning assembly for the head of a stethoscope should preferably also provide at least one disinfectant agent capable of being dispensed and/or be present within the housing and/or in communication with the path of travel of the stethoscope head as well as the stethoscope head itself and other parts of the housing which it may contact.
In light of the above, there is a long standing and well recognized need in the medical profession for a cleaning assembly and an attendant procedure which effectively, quickly and reliably serve to clean and disinfect the head portion and/or at least the exposed diaphragm and supportive rim thereof. Such a proposed cleaning assembly should be structured to effectively isolate at least the diaphragm of the head portion from the surrounding environment during the cleaning procedure. In addition a proposed cleaning assembly should be structured to apply, clean and remove excess cleaning fluid from the diaphragm and/or other adjacent or contiguous components of the head portion.
An improved cleaning assembly should also be capable of effectively isolating the diaphragm and similarly exposed portions of the head of the stethoscope and segregate the hands of the user from the cleaning area of the proposed cleaning assembly. As such, a cleaning procedure associated with the proposed cleaning assembly should occur on the interior of an appropriately structured and dimensioned housing. An appropriate housing of the proposed cleaning assembly should also prevent excessive fluid from escaping and eliminate the possibility of the hand of the user contaminating the diaphragm and/or rim during the cleaning procedure.
Further, an improved and proposed cleaning assembly can also solve the additional problem of disinfecting the housing or casing thereof and operative components and portions thereof in addition to exposing the head portion of the stethoscope to appropriate cleaning fluid which, as set forth above, may be less than effective against spore forms of bacteria. Accordingly, at least one additional feature of a proposed cleaning assembly should be the inclusion of at least one disinfectant agent which may be included in the cleaning fluid or be disposed within the housing independently of the cleaning fluid, wherein the disposition, structure, application, etc. of the at least one disinfectant agent, as well as its composition should be such as to be destructively effective against spore forms of pathogenic bacteria including, but not limited to, C. diff. 
Finally, such a proposed cleaning assembly should be relatively simple in operation and structure and also include components that facilitate the replacement of the intended cleaning fluid and any non-durable elements without undue interference with the remaining operative components associated with the proposed cleaning assembly. Further, a proposed assembly of this type to be described in greater detail hereinafter may include additional preferred embodiments comprising replaceable components of varying function. These replaceable components may preferably include, but not be limited to, a receptacle or sump, portions of the applicator assembly including, but not limited to, an applicator member, a cleaning member and a member that removes excess cleaning fluid from the portions of the stethoscope to which the cleaning fluid is applied. All of the above components may be of durable or nondurable materials. The ability to replace at least some of these components as a single combined and/or interconnected unit facilitates the ease of use and versatility of the proposed cleaning assembly.
A further useful, novel and unique feature of the various replaceable components of the proposed cleaning assembly relate to an appropriately structured and disposed indicator assembly which may include a floating level indicator and/or a window or appropriate viewing structure formed in the housing. Moreover, the indicator assembly and the various proposed components associated therewith will function to apprise the user when the cleaning fluid needs to be replaced.
As such, a proposed cleaning assembly of the type set forth in greater detail hereinafter, should be capable of a long operable life even when exposed to continuous use and a relatively harsh working environment.